Free Republic

One is so used to Western clergymen, from the antisemitic retired Vicar from Virginia Water, the infamous Stephen Sizer, all the way up to the addled Pope Francis, who means well, in his soppy interfaith way, that prevents him from grasping the nature of Islam, coming out with anti-Israel statements that it was both surprising and welcome to find that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, commenting on the explosion at the parking lot of the hospital in Gaza, and insisting that Israel had nothing to do with it. What’s more, he said that those who continue to blame Israel,...

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - The Archbishop of Canterbury has urged the Anglican Church of Uganda to reject the country's new anti-LGBT law, saying there is no justification for Anglicans anywhere to support legislation that goes against the Christian teachings of the Gospel. Under the law, approved by President Yoweri Museveni in May, gay sex is punishable by life in prison while "aggravated homosexuality", including transmitting HIV, attracts the death penalty. Justin Welby, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, said he had written to Archbishop Stephen Kaziimba, the Primate of Uganda, to express "grief and dismay" at the church's stance....

(actual link) Corvid meteors observed only in late June of 1937 may be secondaries from the Giordano Bruno impact in June of 1178. Objects that products meteorite falls, fireballs, airwaves, and flashes on the Moon do not show a preference for late June and, therefore, are not part of the Taurid Complex.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested that Jesus would get vaccinated against Covid. The Most Rev Justin Welby urged people to get jabbed, saying it is a moral issue. He also issued a thinly-veiled criticism of No10 saying he felt ‘real disappointment and sadness’ at seeing photos of Downing Street staff eating cheese and drinking wine during the first lockdown. In an interview with ITV News At Ten, the archbishop said getting vaccinated ‘is not about me and my rights’. ‘It’s about how I love my neighbour. Vaccination reduces my chances of getting ill and reducing my chances of getting...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has said being vaccinated against coronavirus is a moral issue. The Most Rev Justin Welby said that getting the jab reduces the chances of illness being spread and that 'it's not about me and my rights to choose - it's about how I love my neighbour'. His comments come as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that people could go ahead with their Christmas plans but there is 'continuing uncertainty' about the severity of the fast-spreading Omicron variant and hospital admission rates.

"Unfortunately," Dr John Jenkins, historical researcher on the reconstruction team, says, "there are no contemporary comparators for it; the closest are the shrine bases of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster and St Etheldreda at Ely, both of mid- to late-13th-century date. "So, therefore, our CGI reconstruction uses all currently available evidence including eye-witness accounts; theories from past historians for potential usage of the shrine; date of construction; materials used; specific features; accessibility and location with the church; similar examples elsewhere; as well as those who created it; to reconstruct how the shrine could have looked." Crucially, the team's design...

Two skeletons dating back to the Bronze and Iron Age have been unearthed by archaeologists working on a building site. The remains were discovered at the Aylesham Garden Village development near Canterbury... They are among the latest archaeological finds at the site, with smaller items of pottery and glass, dating from the Roman occupation of 2,000 years ago, also discovered. The dig is being undertaken for developers Barratt Homes and Persimmon Homes by a team from the Faversham-based Swale and Thames Archaeology (SWAT). SWAT's Dr Paul Wilkinson said: "It will be some time before we know much more about the...

In 990AD, the Archbishop of Canterbury named Sigeric the Serious had a more practical reason to walk to Rome. Having risen into his prestigious office, he needed to visit the Vatican to be ordained and collect his official garments. At the time he made the journey, there were many different paths to Rome. But Sigeric, who’d left from Canterbury, wrote down his route home through Italy, Switzerland, France and into the UK, cataloguing the towns he stayed in on his journey. The route he took now makes up the official Via Francigena. The only part that cannot be completed on...

Hanna Mary was strolling along a beach with her mom and pup close behind when she spotted what she first believed was plastic sheeting. After a rough storm hit Canterbury, New Zealand, last week, Mary anticipated piles of "rubbish" would wash ashore. But when she inspected the bizarre-looking object Saturday at a Rakaia Huts beach, shrieking after she realized it wasn't just another piece of trash — it was the skeleton of an "alien"-like critter. "When I pulled it out and saw all the teeth and barbs I was convinced it was a rare deep sea creature," Mary told Fox News. "I...

Red Double ANOTHER MARTYR comes in today to take his place round the Crib of our Jesus. He does not belong to the first ages of the church: his name is not written in the Books of the New Testament, like those of Stephen, John, and the Innocents of Bethlehem. Yet does he stand most prominent in the ranks of that Martyr-Host, which has been receiving fresh recruits in every age, and is one of those visible abiding proofs of the vitality of the Church, and of the undecaying energy infused into her by her divine Founder. This glorious...

Claims that the atrocities of the Islamic State have “nothing to do with Islam” are harming efforts to confront and combat extremism, the Archbishop of Canterbury has insisted. Religious leaders of all varieties must “stand up and take responsibility” for the actions of extremists who profess to follow their faith, the Most Rev Justin Welby said. He argued that unless people recognise and attempt to understand the motivation of terrorists they will never be able to combat their ideology effectively. It follows calls from a series of high profile figures for people to avoid using the term Islamic State –...

Security has been increased following the murder of Fr Jacques HamelPolice with guns are patrolling Canterbury Cathedral amid fears about terror attacks. The extra security comes after a series of jihadist attacks across Europe, including the murder of Fr Jacques Hamel. Essex and Kent Police have ordered armed officers to guard potential terrorist targets, including the cathedral, major shopping centres, the port of Dover and London Southend Airport. Photos have emerged of police officers carrying Heckler and Koch G36 assault rifles, Glock 17 semi-auto 9mm pistols and Tasers outside the cathedral. A spokesman for Canterbury Cathedral said: “Having grown used...

May 17, 2013: For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. "Lunar meteor showers" have turned out to be more common than anyone expected, with hundreds of detectable impacts occurring every year. They've just seen the biggest explosion in the history of the program. "On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've...

There was a plume after all. Observers on Earth had their doubts after LCROSS and its Centaur booster rocket hit the Moon on Friday, Oct. 9th. The twin lunar impacts failed to produce visible plumes of debris, prompting speculation that something had gone wrong. On the contrary, members of the LCROSS science team are now calling the experiment "a smashing success." Fifteen seconds after the Centaur hit the shadowy floor of crater Cabeus, the LCROSS spacecraft flying 600 km overhead took the following picture of a plume measuring 6 to 8 km wide: "There is a clear indication of a...

The Archbishop of Canterbury today welcomed a group of Shia theologians to Lambeth Palace at the culmination of three days of dialogue with Christian theologians, hosted by Harris Manchester College, Oxford and the British Council. Expressing his appreciation for this dialogue, Archbishop Justin Welby said: “At a time of increasing fear and division in the world, it is ever more important that people of faith, Christians and Muslims, come together to work towards the common good for the betterment of all. "As Anglicanism has its roots in the United Kingdom, and Shi’ism in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the...

Archbishop of Canterbury hails a “completely new phase” of its existence after enabing women to become bishops The Church of England has entered what the Archbishop of Canterbury hailed as a “completely new phase” of its existence as legislation enabling women to become bishops came into force. Forty years of debate and campaigning over the role of women in leadership in the Established Church was brought to an end in just 10 minutes as the Church’s General Synod symbolically showed its approval for the change through a simple show of hands and a few signatures on a piece of paper....

Justin Welby admits he sometimes doubts the existence of God, but he is certain about Jesus. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby last weekend gave a powerful statement about his recent doubts over the existence of God. Welby disclosed that recently, while he was jogging with his dog near his London home, he asked why God does not intervene to stop injustice in the world. Welby’s statement appeared in a personal interview he gave in front of hundreds of people at Bristol Cathedral last weekend, The Guardian reports. When the interviewer, BBC Bristol’s Lucy Tegg, asked Welby “Do you ever...

Canterbury Cathedral, where Archbishop Thomas Becket was killed, is the city’s biggest tourist attraction with a million visitors every yearAfter nearly 1,000 years, murder in the cathedral is still luring visitors to Canterbury. It was in the Canterbury Cathedral in 1107 that Archbishop Thomas Becket was killed, viciously, by four knights who believed they were doing the bidding of King Henry 2. As a result, Becket became a martyr and the cathedral a place of pilgrimage to his shrine. The homicide was the subject of Murder in the Cathedral, a verse drama by T.S. Eliot, and was more famously immortalised...

The Archbishop of Canterbury has signalled that the Church of England will mount no more resistance to gay marriage among churchgoers. Gay marriage will be legalised from Saturday with dozens of ceremonies planned around the country for one minute past midnight. This passing of the legislation caused deep rifts within the church. "I think the church has reacted by fully accepting that it's the law, and should react on Saturday by continuing to demonstrate in word and action, the love of Christ for every human being." Justin Welby told the Guardian. His comments mark a shift in tone, if not...

(Vatican Radio) The head of the Anglican Communion, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, said he hopes to “produce a few surprises” with Pope Francis in terms of ecumenical relations between the two churches, but declined to disclose any details. The archbishop made the comment in an interview with Vatican Radio’s Philippa Hitchen at the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches, currently underway in Busan, South Korea. Listen to the full interview: RealAudio MP3He also reflected on the challenges and concessions that need to be made for the sake of Christian unity. The longer Christians “exist in different...